Borroloola

The town of Borroloola, 50km from the mouth of the McArthur River in the Gulf of Carpentaria, was proclaimed on 10 September 1885.

Borroloola is in the traditional lands of the Yanyuwa, Mara, Karawa and Kurandji people.

An understanding of the town’s geographical location can demonstrate the remote nature of the town – it is situated 1,000kms south east from Darwin on the Northern Territory (NT) side of the Queensland border.

Borroloola is a small town with a colourful past. The often wild and eccentric nature of the town and its inhabitants has been romanticised by popular authors such as Ernestine Hill, Douglas Lockwood, Bill Harney and Ted Egan.

The Yanyuwa people divide the contact history of the region into the following six sections – macassan time, "wild times", police times, welfare times, land right times and tourist times. (Richard Baker, Land is Life, 1999).

Borroloola 's population is now approximately 700 people, with the majority of these being Aboriginal. Although it remains a service centre for surrounding pastoral properties, the town's main industries are now tourism and mining.

The series of records listed here may not all be available on open public access. Northern Territory Archives Service (NTAS) staff will advise you about access.

ELDER, PeterNTRS 1884 Photographs relating to the first Borroloola Land Claim Hearings by Aboriginal Land Commissioner Justice Toohey 1977NTRS 1885 Diary relating to the first Borroloola Land Claim Hearings by Aboriginal Land Commissioner Justice Toohey 1977-1978